Lawsuit Filed Against Gonzales & DOJ Officials (Six attorneys rejected by DOJ)

[sabra]

Source: ABC News

Lawsuit: DOJ Officials Should be Held Accountable for Politicizing Hiring Practices

Six attorneys rejected from civil service positions at the Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and three other top officials for allegedly violating their rights by taking politics into consideration in the hiring process.

The suit is an attempt to hold top officials accountable for the hiring scandal that ultimately led to Gonzales' resignation last year, said Daniel Metcalfe, the attorney for the plaintiffs who is also executive director of its Collaboration on Government Secrecy at American University's Washington College of Law.

"My clients wish that they hadn't had to bring this lawsuit -- they would have greatly preferred to be working inside the Justice Department, where by all rights they deserved to be, defending the government in court rather than standing as victimized examples of government wrongdoing," said Metcalfe, a former longtime Justice Department official.

One of the rejected attorneys -- Sean Gerlich -- first filed suit against the department in June. Today's amended complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, broadens the suit to include Gonzales; Monica Goodling, former White House Liaison; Michael Elston, former chief of staff to then-Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty; and Esther McDonald, former counsel to Gonzales.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5587585

[katandmoon]

1. Good.

[Demeter]

17. A Criminal Prosecution Would Be Better, Of Course

We'll have to hope Obama's AG has the stomach for it.

[ladjf]

2. Good start.

[MasonJar]

3. Yea!!!!!!!!! Go at 'em, lawyers.

[grannie4peace]

4. thank goodness

i just called the doj this am because that bugged me so much. i made sure i had a real person and told her everything i thought was not wise about the ag's decision that all crimes aren't crimes:crazy: :shrug: :banghead: :patriot:

[Lugnut]

5. Good. n/t

[pacalo]

6. This should be good. Checked over at Emptywheel's & she is on a road trip. :(

[geckosfeet]

7. K&R - wish I could K&R the lawsuit itself - this thread is as close as I can get.

[drm604]

8. K&R

I don't know if they'll succeed but at least this will keep the issue in the public eye for a while longer.

[progressoid]

9. They should have done this a long time ago.

[still_one]

11. they tried to go through the current AG, but when he spit in their faces

thisxwas their only choice

[progressoid]

13. Yep - It's hard to win when only one side plays by the rules.

[still_one]

10. They should also include schumer's AG, for obstruction /nt

[williesgirl]

12. K&R

[David Zephyr]

14. Hallelujah!

Yes!

[The Wizard]

15. It will be dismissed

Bush stacked the Courts with goose steppers?
Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband Joe were seriously damaged by this criminal administration, and their case was dismissed twice.
The damage done by these bastards will take at least a generation to remedy.

[lonestarnot]

20. Well maybe someone will have a stroke?

:shrug:

[tanyev]

16. I just finished reading David Iglesias's book about his firing.

He starts out as a loyal Republican, evangelical Christian convinced that the GWB administration was the right choice for the country. And even though he was outraged by what was done to him and the other attorneys, he still chalks it up more to arrogance and incompetence of certain people, not a plan or systemic fault of the administration. I kept wondering what he thought about the recent revelations about Ms. Googling, I mean Ms. Goodling, and her modus operandi. ("Why do you want to serve the President?")

[bjobotts]

18. Politicized the DoJ and Immigration judges and get away with it? Mukasey needs to go.

[lonestarnot]

19. Amended. Cool.

[aquart]

21. Excellent. Slaughter 'em with a civil suit.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

22. Well now they've done it.

They went and pissed off a bunch of lawyers. Nice move, Gonzo.

[Festivito]

23. Too bad it can't attach to a RICO suit and take CON contributors.

along with the creepy attorneys.

[beac]

24. Too bad we can't waterboard Gonzo. Isn't that the best way to get to the "truth"?

I don't condone waterboarding at all, but an evil little part of me would really enjoy seeing Alberto strapped down and terrified while being "not tortured."